Home Cinema or Home Gym

[Token74]

Hi all

I am currently remodelling my house and need to decide between a gym and a cinema room. As many of you guys will have one of these, if not both, I’d welcome your views and shared experience.

To add some more context...

The space I have is not huge, it is about 12ft by 25ft.

If I turn this space into a home cinema room, I have another room that I will use as a dedicated fitness room, but it will only really have room for a treadmill and some free-weights.

Whereas, if I turn this space into a gym, I do have two other areas in the house for people to watch TV but they are in open plan spaces so don’t offer quite the same experience.

I watch TV far more than I work out (sport mainly) and I often have friends round for sporting events, World Cups, Ryder Cups etc. And I like the idea of the kids (just about grown up) coming round with their other halves and having regular film nights. Given the space limitation, it would be a softly-furnishes home cinema rather than big recliners etc.

Based on my general lifestyle, the Cinema makes the most sense to me.

But...my wife and I enjoy food and wine a lot, and we are reaching an age where working out is getting increasingly important to maintain our size and health. There are no local gyms. In truth, we both like the treadmill, but I am wondering whether we would exercise more if we had a better equipped gym.

Thoughts would be very welcome.


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[1William]

I have a space similar in size and chose to utilize it for socializing as opposed to a Gym. I am home more in a leisure capacity than a workout mode and it just came down to utilization. If you have space for station bicycles and some other moderate weight equipment, dumb bells, you can get it done. Some of the most expensive items to be purchased is exercise equipment that is not used. I would make it a cinema.

[superdog]

I have a home gym. And it makes working out super easy.

I like the idea of a home cinema, but to me, a gym is far more important. Besides, a good TV in the living room on a comfy couch will do the trick.

[Keadog]

We have both. The theater gets a lot more use. Depending on your definition of home gym, you can stick an elliptical or Peleton almost anywhere in front of a window or TV (see multiple ads), but there's really something special (for us) to be able to recreate a "mini" movie experience without the travel, people talking on cell phones and gum/candy stuck to your feet.
We hadn't been to a theater in years until we went to see Crazy Rich Asians this summer because neither of us wanted to wait for the DVD to be released. Usually, by the time we want to see something, it's already out. Plus, we're watching more and more Netflix and Amazon Prime shows.
I need to use the gym more...

[brandrea]

Here’s my experience:

We had a theatre room and a gym at our last house. Like you, we also had other TVs in other rooms as well. What we found, was that we most often ended up watching TV in one of the other rooms (adjacent to the kitchen mostly, or the rec room). Because the theatre room was a separate room, it always felt a bit isolated from the rest of the house. In our case, the theatre room seldom got used. Sure we’d watch the odd movie, but when you’re entertaining for a big game, or watching your favorite weekly sitcom, we found that people like to hang out near the kitchen. It’s a natural social gathering place. I always felt like I had to herd people into the movie room.

I guess it just wasn’t a “social” enough space ( not close enough to the kitchen and where people tend to want to congregate.

Now that we are in a smaller house, We renovated into an open concept space where the TV and the kitchen are adjacent and everyone can enjoy each other’s company without it feeling “ forced” if that makes sense

Anyway, I much prefer the home gym but then again I love to work out.

There’s no right or wrong, as I know people who have home gyms and never use them either

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by superdog

I have a home gym. And it makes working out super easy.

I like the idea of a home cinema, but to me, a gym is far more important. Besides, a good TV in the living room on a comfy couch will do the trick.

Agree.

Driving to a gym, waiting for equipment to be free, and all the faffing about that goes with the gym, is a huge amount of time. A home gym with all the equipment you use, all set up for you, is a big convenience. You'll get a better workout in much less time. And you'll be less likely to skip the gym due to traffic, crowds, weather, etc.

Get a nice 80 inch OLED and a killer sound system for your open plan "theater" room. I think you'll find that you will spend more time in your gym than you will with a crowd of friends watching TV anyway.

[SearChart]

Home gym would definitely be my choice.

[donas]

Health first in my opinion. I have both and the gym gets much more use. As Brian stated, the cinema room feels isolated and inconvenient to use; almost all of our tv watching is in the family room near the kitchen. The other plus side to the gym is it won't be outdated in 6 months with bigger and better gym equipment coming out!

[RW16610]

Home gym, without any debate or hesitation. Great suggestions above and a nice living room setup as aforementioned in this thread will do the trick.

[1st amg]

Home Gym....without a doubt...it can pay off in huge dividends where the theatre room will encourage all the bad(good) stuff...wine, popcorn, candy and beer.

[AzPaul]

Whichever the wife wants.

[sco]

I’m not a gym guy, and I have future plans for a theater.. so I think my vote is pretty clear.

[DoraTheExplorerII]

I did both, and the screen with a driving range mat (and launch monitor) in front doubles as a golf simulator so I can practice my swing at home hitting quality balls any time I want.

[encarter13]

I would vote gym, but only if you know you will use it. If not, you will end up with $$$ in wasted space and equipment.

[joeychitwood]

That would be a big gym. I'd build a home theater and find a smaller space somewhere for some essential gym equipment.

[GeoffEff]

Home gym is going to get my vote, too. Buy a nice OLED and sound system (even an ATMOS soundbar if limited in options) as others had mentioned. Make sure the couch is comfy and you're good to go.

The home gym will get a ton of use and is a better investment IMO.

[rmlovett1]

Originally Posted by superdog

I have a home gym. And it makes working out super easy.

I like the idea of a home cinema, but to me, a gym is far more important. Besides, a good TV in the living room on a comfy couch will do the trick.

Originally Posted by brandrea

Here’s my experience:

We had a theatre room and a gym at our last house. Like you, we also had other TVs in other rooms as well. What we found, was that we most often ended up watching TV in one of the other rooms (adjacent to the kitchen mostly, or the rec room). Because the theatre room was a separate room, it always felt a bit isolated from the rest of the house. In our case, the theatre room seldom got used. Sure we’d watch the odd movie, but when you’re entertaining for a big game, or watching your favorite weekly sitcom, we found that people like to hang out near the kitchen. It’s a natural social gathering place. I always felt like I had to herd people into the movie room.

I guess it just wasn’t a “social” enough space ( not close enough to the kitchen and where people tend to want to congregate.

Now that we are in a smaller house, We renovated into an open concept space where the TV and the kitchen are adjacent and everyone can enjoy each other’s company without it feeling “ forced” if that makes sense

Anyway, I much prefer the home gym but then again I love to work out.

There’s no right or wrong, as I know people who have home gyms and never use them either

Agree with these gentlemen. Home gym is important everyday use, (for my lifestyle, healthy priorities, etc...) so the convenience is nice. I agree, the home theater is nice, but people like to congregate, socialize, etc... in a bigger area, especially around sporting events...,get up without interrupting people, get a drink, food, etc.....
The living room/kitchen area is a great place to entertain, especially if you’ve got an open concept space with 70+ television within view. I opted for a home gym in a spare bedroom (12x12) in the house we recently built , with a kitchen/living area for any type of entertainment. Wouldn’t want to try an corral people from the “entertainment” area into a smaller room.
My little home gym has all I need to get it done...
Pics for illustration...


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[Blansky]

The beauty of a home gym is that the machines are a great place to hang your clothes and the room is great for storing boxes of stuff that you haven't thrown out yet.

[SearChart]

Originally Posted by Blansky

The beauty of a home gym is that the machines are a great place to hang your clothes and the room is great for storing boxes of stuff that you haven't thrown out yet.

Nonono that is what the garage is for! , home gym is for squat cage, bench and a whole lotta free weights/kettle bells.

[Rolex Essex]

Originally Posted by Blansky

The beauty of a home gym is that the machines are a great place to hang your clothes and the room is great for storing boxes of stuff that you haven't thrown out yet.

my wife’s Life Fitness spin bike is used for that.
A complete waste of space.

[capote]

Home theater, but I’m a movie buff. I work out at the gym

[droptopman]

Home gym. With the technology today, you can set up a great theatre experience in your "great room" in an open environment. Plus closer to kitchen!

[breitlings]

I really like large format LCD TVs. I'm seeing many 70" LCDs at $750 for black friday. The reason I bring this up, is that if you use a large LCD in your current viewing areas and have a good receiver sound system setup, you may enjoy the large TV more, instead of going to a separate room, firing up a projector etc.

If this room is in the basement check for Radon as you don't want to workout in an area with Radon, it will hurt you.

I'd like my own gym at my house, and a nice theater, and a music room. But right now I have an office that is pretty big and has a few pieces of workout equipment in it, and I find doing a few excercises throughout the day is really nice. Instead of working out for an hour straight, 5-10 minutes a few times a day or even just 3 sets at 3 different times per day is I think maybe better for you. As you give your body time to recover and also perhaps keep your metabolism up all day. I will use the elliptical for 20-30 minutes, but you can also just do 10 minutes 3 times even.

I would take some BCAA's when you workout to help your cells recover.

Let us know which way you go.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by Blansky

The beauty of a home gym is that the machines are a great place to hang your clothes and the room is great for storing boxes of stuff that you haven't thrown out yet.

I’ll post s pic of my gym tomorrow when I get home.

It gets tons of use. No extra closet for me.

The random treadmill typically turn hanger like.

[Blansky]

Originally Posted by droptopman

Home gym. With the technology today, you can set up a great theatre experience in your "great room" in an open environment. Plus closer to kitchen!

This is for most an easier option probably. I don't have kids so I have no idea if a media room is also a great place to chase the kids to or not.

But for most people getting a large TV and a sound system is probably fine in the current family room.

[Token74]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom folks. Seems that the responses are pretty split, albeit currently in favour of gym. My favourite option going into this was Home Cinema, your responses have now got my slightly in favour of the gym!!

Photos of your various setups (gym and movie room) would be great.

The thinking re: home cinema is as per the attached picture which I found online. Will be starting the research on potential gym layouts starts tonight!




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[Blansky]

I guess a person could combine them. Something to do while working out.

[goin camping]

Since I do not enjoy working out in a gym. I'd go for the home theater with popcorn machine and fridge.

I have had a gym room in the past. Amazing how dust stacks up so fast...

[uscmatt99]

My wife and I built our home and moved in 2011. I was set on having a home theater and had one built in the basement. We went whole hog with a soundproofed room within a room construction, 7 speakers, 2 huge subs, with the ability to expand to Atmos when we want to. There is a 120" acoustically transparent screen and decent projector. It's really an amazing experience watching movies there, only bested by the IMAX theater at the local cinema. We love watching movies there.

But here's the catch. It's an "event" to fire it up, and to properly build a theater that optimizes the audio and visual experience necessitates making it an antisocial space. We end up watching movies and some streaming shows in our living room because they often won't be any more awesome on a big screen.

In your shoes, and with an extra room that size, I'd favor a gym. In fact I'm dying to convert my kid's unused playroom into a gym. If you want the theater type experience without going all in, get an 85" flatscreen for your main viewing room and maybe a custom soundbar and in-wall subwoofer, call it a day. This is more amenable to the type of experience you're after.

[Chewbacca]

Nothing says I can cook in the bedroom and make love in the kitchen better like having a the gym, kitchen and tv room/theater in the same 500sqft area.

I say make it happen!